Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires 93,768 Shares of Walmart Inc. $WMT

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 58.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 253,098 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 93,768 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $24,748,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 425,961,042 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $37,395,120,000 after buying an additional 3,224,154 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 397,264.9% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 104,514,912 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $10,496,702,000 after acquiring an additional 104,488,610 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Walmart by 30.1% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 33,292,749 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,922,770,000 after acquiring an additional 7,706,201 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Walmart by 1.3% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 30,874,987 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,710,665,000 after purchasing an additional 387,424 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Walmart by 2.9% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 29,188,142 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,562,427,000 after purchasing an additional 823,020 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $102.70 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $100.88 and its 200 day moving average is $96.87. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $78.98 and a 12-month high of $106.11. The stock has a market cap of $818.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.61, a PEG ratio of 4.81 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 21st. The retailer reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $169.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $174.02 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 3.08% and a return on equity of 21.45%. Walmart’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.67 earnings per share. Walmart has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.580-0.600 EPS. FY 2026 guidance at 2.520-2.620 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.97, for a total transaction of $1,863,353.52. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 4,392,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $421,594,770.45. The trade was a 0.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.96, for a total transaction of $403,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 1,052,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $106,255,856.80. The trade was a 0.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 151,232 shares of company stock valued at $15,083,877 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Walmart in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $129.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Walmart from $111.00 to $109.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 target price (up from $108.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on Walmart from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Thirty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.38.

About Walmart

Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, other units, and eCommerce worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam's Club. It operates supercenters, supermarkets, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, cash and carry stores, and discount stores under Walmart and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands; membership-only warehouse clubs; ecommerce websites, such as walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, PhonePe and other sites; and mobile commerce applications.